1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a multi part garment having multiple means for the protection of a user against traumas and fractures from accidental falls and/or violent impacts against obstacles, in particular for motor bikers, or for athletes practicing hazardous sports.
More precisely, the present invention concerns a jacket equipped with an electronic card or unit bearing a display, said unit being coupled to a gilet concurrently forming with its equipment the structure of parts and means for an effective motor biker's protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is already known that garments, above all garments for sport people, are manufactured with materials and component parts having hi-tech features in order to provide the user with a wide range of possible, essentially multi parts, compositions, according to the needs and safety thereof.
Along with the use of specific materials, also the shapes and the structure of the garments are actually implemented to provide the user with utmost reliability and protection when using the garment in a specific sport. Evidently, the plurality of employs to which the garment is destined, together with the various user's needs, has determined specific functional features thereof, with the entailed manufacturers' commitment to innovative research. Moreover, the fact that each purchaser practicing certain activities, like, e.g., motor biking, mountaineering and riding, always tends to purchase therefor protective means related to personal safety, both accidentally and from a merely practical and functional viewpoint, should not be neglected. In fact, safety has recently become one of the main targets of research, through the study and the adoption of ever more sophisticated applications, and a foremost customer need.
It is actually known, that in the field of safety, the development of ‘passive’ safety devices, i.e., those apt to minimize the dangerous consequences on passengers in case of a vehicle, or motor vehicle, impact, received a substantial boost.
In the field of automotive vehicles, pneumatic systems with an air bag which, in case of a violent impact, is instantly inflated by means of a gas generator so as to interpose itself between the driver and the vehicle body or the steering wheel are widely used. These air bags have been mass-employed on automotive vehicles for quite some time, nowadays being widely marketed. Basically, to date the use of air bag, which became very popular in automotive vehicles, did not found a practical application and was not widely produced in the field of motor biking, since in the latter the modes of employ of such protections are radically different. As a matter of fact, in automotive vehicles the scope of the air bag is to limit the injuries caused by a frontal impact, preventing the passengers from being projected onwards, so that the operating direction of the protection is specifically defined and the sole problems are those of determining the optimum speed of response to the inflation of the air bag, and of having the latter remain inflated solely for a relatively short time interval, and then deflate. Thus, as it is well-known to those skilled in the art, in case of a passenger's impact, the air bag is not permanently or elastically deformed, which after the impact would make the passenger bounce back with a correspondingly great force. In the field of the motor vehicles, a motor biker impacting against obstacles or involved in accidental falls could be violently projected in any direction, whereas the protective action of the air bag, were the latter made integral to the motor vehicle structure, could develop in a sole direction, i.e., so as to project the motor biker upwards or in a predetermined direction, beyond the obstacle impacted onto by the motor vehicle, thereby remarkably limiting the safety protective action thereof.
In the state of the art the protection of the user against traumas and fractures from falls and/or impacts against obstacles, in particular for motor bikers, is implemented by means of passive safety devices; incidentally, jackets and suits, or likewise garments equipped with special padding which cushion the impact against obstacles or against the ground in case of falls have been implemented. These garments, due to the presence of several relevant padded areas for activating at least some safety, turn out to be impractical, when not altogether bulky, like, e.g., in those employs requiring an extreme nimbleness of body motion, just like that required by a motor biker. The state of the art is also aware of jacket-like garments entailing at least one thick air space.
The laid-open Patents UK1479733, UK1588919, U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,852 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,936 teach garments cushioning a wearer's impact, as the protectors comprise one or more inflatable bags adapted so as to form an impact-absorbing cushion.
However, such applications entail several drawbacks rendering limitative and unsatisfactory the application thereof. In particular, these drawbacks are represented by the umbilical connection between the inflatable protector worn onto the motor biker's torso and the motor vehicle frame. However, it is known that accidental impacts, or devastating falls to the ground, initially occur in a situation of union between the motor biker and the motor vehicle, i.e., without a mechanical tearing of the umbilical connection and, therefore, without triggering the required inflatable protection; therefore, the protections of said known applications are not ensured at all times. Moreover, these known applications, due to the presence of a tying cord between the structure of the motor vehicle frame and the inflation garment, prove to be of scanty practicality and comfort, if not altogether bulky and tricky, like, e.g., in an use requiring utmost nimbleness of body motion, just as that required by a motorbike runner, and, likewise, in the practice of everyday leisure and/or work motor biking activities.
In light of the above, it is apparent that the protective garments in use in the field of motor biking activities, as well as in other sports, like mountaineering, mountain biking and any other sports or working activity possibly entailing falls, are not sufficiently qualified to ensure an actual protection in case of any accident or hazardous condition. Moreover, those solutions are not appreciated by an user, due both to the mechanical operation via the pulling of a cord, which might be torn off in case the same user be tossed and/or separated from a structure, and to the bulkiness and inconvenience thereof in the activation/deactivation practice.
The latter aspect is the main cause of the lack of industrialization of the known applications.